How to choose? Almost every script passage repays study by unfolding into a Word that matters deeply, often surprisingly.

Over the years, passages to which I’ve been asked to turn my attention rather than things that just “jumped out at me” have become my favorites. The realism and humility of Ecclesiastes 3:9-15, for instance, or the images of hope for all God’s people in …

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come?2 My help is from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.3 He will not let your foot be moved; your keeper will not slumber.4 In deed, he will neither slumber nor sleep, the keeper of Israel.5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.6 By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.8 The LORD …

Like most believers, I love many different Bible passages, and different ones have been significant for me at different periods in my life. Lately, though, I’ve been particularly drawn to the 23rd Psalm. I know, that’s too much of a cliché to be taken seriously. But there’s a reason that many people, even if they don’t know any other passage of …

Have you ever found yourself at a strange point in life and wondered how you got there? Have you looked back at the coincidences and happenstance that brought you together with others in a particular place and time? That feeling of gratitude for God’s careful direction is one of the reasons that one my favorite texts in all of Scripture is a strange little story about a lonely …

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the LORD with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For …

I’m drawn to biblical passages that make me see differently. My capacity to imagine what’s possible for the world is limited, and my ability to perceive the true nature of things is sometimes overly pessimistic. This makes me grateful for the Bible’s potential to urge me toward viewing my experiences and events around me in light of God’s grand intentions for humanity’s …

Watch Fretheim explain why this passage is so powerful: "God values who you are. God honors your place in this relationship. And God places confidence in you to speak, and act, and pray in ways that God can use. For you are God's own vineyard, God's own garden of imagination, God's very own beloved."